Collapsible shoehorn



GOLLAPSIBLE SHOEHORN Filed Oct. 22, 1926 i 5 v 1 i I 5 I INVENTOR RI 5 A UNDAY ATTORNEYS Patented Oct 18, 1927 STA E 1,645,605 PAT QS F PC- RUSSELL EDWARD LUNnAY, of nemy, NEw iM EXI GO.

coL Ar'sIBLE snonnonn.

Application filed October 22, 1926. Serial No. 143,424.

My invention relates to improvements in shoe horns of the collapsible type, and it consists in the combinations, coiistructions, and arrangements herein described and claimed. An object of my invention is to provide a shoe'hoin which not only can be collapsed longitudinally to 'shorte'nit, but which-"also niaybe collapsecl'l'at'erally, so as to provide a devicewhich, when collapsed, is" 1n a very eornpact form "not larger than the ordinary key, and which, therefore, may be carried conveniently in the pocket."

A further'otiject of tlie invention is to pro vide' a" deviceof the typenientioned which may "be readily "nianipnlated so "as to e-X- pand it or collapseitat will. (ither' object's--ai1d advantages will appear in the following specification and "the novel features of the-'inventioii'will he particularly pointed out in the' appended clainisf My invention is illiist'rated in the accompanyin gdr'awinfgs, f rming" part of this application, inwhich "Fig'iire 1 is a face view of a blank which formsftlie casing,

' "Figuiesi ZBi and L are face views of the movable parts,-

Fig ures'e and 6 are sectional views of the meinbei'sshowirimFiguresQ and 4, respecs'i"-inew;

F gure 7 1s a view of the device showlng 1t in .j tsiex panded positloni i F i'gi ire. 'Q'is a sectional view along the line FlgP re ,1 1

Figure-10 is a longitudinal sectional View through the casing, showing the relation of the ino'va ble parts,

*Figurellfis an edge view of the device in itscollapsed condition, and

1Q12 of Figure7, showing the relation of the movable in their eitp'a'n'ded con- "ditionf 1 i at main bodyportion which'consijsts "of" a 'lstairnping similar to that inFiguif'l. This "which may; be fielded geth r on "the dotted line 3 so as to register. "The floop' portion lf hajs an' integral entensioiifll of theshape 'ithe- 'meiiiber 14 andj Q irtending diagonally we; a '25. it 1;: in; 5:1.

from the loop portion to the outer end. An integral earl 6=- i'spro'vided=, as shown:

The loop portion Qhas an iirtegral exteir sion 7, similar to'the extensione, a groove 8 running'diagonally,"and an ear 9, similar tothe'ear 6. It will-be observed that both the portions 4 and 7 havetheir-edges on one side;'i. e.-',"the right-hand side in Figure 1, cut partially'away, as'shownat 10. The"portions='land 7 are bent at right angles on the dotted lines '11 toward the groovedside, and then-the blank'is bent at 3 so that the portions on each" side 'of' the line are brought intoregistrati-on --The ears Sand are then bent around the opposing portion, thus 'tOrIning a casing having the grooves 5and8 erossing one anotheri In"Fi,g ;u"res 2 and 5 lha v'e 'shown at 12 one of the entermovable elements; This hasa rolled or headed outer edge 12 while in Figures land 6 a similar element 13' is disclosed witha bead13 on its outer edge. Both of: these elements 12 and 1'3 taper, as sh'owndnthe drawings. The element 12 is provided with a lateially'eXtending portion 12 at one end, see Figure "5, while the coinp'a nion{Infe'niber 13 has a hook-like extension 13 v V In FigureS I have shown a central member 14"which consists of 'a'flatpla'te having is bentbaek'upon itself to provide a handle member for'rnovingthe parts, as will be explaineddate'ri Each of the'partsfhi, 12,

-"1 3aIidl'14= is curved on mares-e that when the-parts are asse nbledthey can be nested in the-immersh'o'wn in Figures-9 and 12.

*Inasseinbling the device', the member 12 is the lug or extension 19) passingthrough the $101115. The other member 13is placed on the opposite side with itshook 18" extending through theslot '16." The arrangement is In carrying out my invention, 1 provide suchjtha'tg when the movable members are enclosed Within the casing formed by bend- "'iii gtogether-thepartsshownnn Figure 1, is: preferably made of sheet inetal. It will the be'ads" 12 and 1S will enter the'grooves see, Figure informed by the cutaway porfft'ions l'O' andwhen the device'is in'itscolp H I lapsed position, theilugs 12 and 13 will shown,'j there'- being "a ro0ve 5'1mpressed fin slots '15 imd iesiii) From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood. Let us assume that the device is in its collapsed condition, as shown in Figure 11. Now. by pressing the handle portion 17 upwardly in Figure 11, the central member 14 will be moved out of the casing. This will cause an outward mowement of the side members 12 and 13. The latter, however, are guided in their movement by the fact that their beads 12 and 13 are in the grooves 5 and 8. Therefore, these members will have a lateral movement as well as a longitudinal movement, as the handle 17 is moved. Since these members are curved, there will be a sliding movement of the outer members with respect to the central member, so that when the device is expanded, it will take the arc shape. shown in Figure 12; i. e., it will be expanded into the shape of the ordinary shoe horn. In order to prevent the edges on the concave side of the expanded horn from cutting the stocking, they are tapered off; It will also be observed that the slot 10 is brought to a taper at its ends. When the handle 17 is at either end, it is held frictionally by the narrow portion of the slot, thus virtually clamping the parts either in their collapsed or expanded positions.

It will be noted that I have provided a shoe horn having a handle portion which serves as a casing, and a blade portion made up of movable parts which can be projected from the handle portion, the blade being expanded as it emerges,

The collapsing or expanding of the device may be accomplished very quickly, and, when the movable parts are brought within the casing, it takes up very little room, in fact not more than an ordinary key, and can, therefore, be carried on a key chain in the pocket and be always handy.

It will be understood that the proportions or parts are not those shown in the drawing. As a matter of fact, the casing and the movable members are'made of relatively thin metal. In order to show the relation of the beads and grooves, however, it was necessary to exaggerate the thickness of the metal so that Figure 9, which is a section of the assembled parts, shows these parts relatively thicker than they are in actual practice.

I am aware that collapsible shoe horns are not broadly new. The horns with which I am familiar, however, collapse longitudinally, but not laterally. The importance of collapsing them laterally lies in the fact that it brings them into a compact form which can be carried on a key chain with other keys, whereas a shoe horn collapsible longitudinally only would be too bulky ,to carry in this manner.

When the device is expanded, it is used in the ordinary manner and facilitates the putting on of shoes.

I claim:

1. A shoe horn, comprising a handle portion and a blade portion movable into and out of one end of said handle portion, and means for causing the expansion. of the blade laterally during the outward movement.

2. A shoe horn, comprising a handle portion and a blade portion movable into and out of one end of said handle portion, and means for causing the expansion of the blade laterally during the outward movement and for causing the collapsing of the blade during the inward movement.

8. A. shoe horn, comprising a casing having guide grooves therein, a blade movable into and out of one end of said casing, said blade having a. central portion and laterally movable side portions, and means carried by the side portions for engaging the guide grooves within the casing.

A shoe horn, comprising a hollow handle portion having a longitudinal slot, said handle portion being open at one end and closed at the other, a blade movable into and out of the open end, said blade having a central member provided with an extension arranged to pass through said slot, and a pair of laterally movable members slidably secured to said central member.

5. A shoe horn, comprising a hollow handle portion having alongitudinal slot, said handle portion being open at one end and closed at the other, a blade movable into and out of the open end. said blade having a central member provided with an extension arranged to pass through said slot, a pair of laterally movable members slidably secured to said central member, and means carried by the handle and arranged to engage said side members for causing a lateral movement of the side members with respect to the central member.

6. A shoe horn, comprising a metal casing provided with a longitudinal slot and having oppositely extending guide grooves in the walls thereof, a blade movable into and out of said casing, said blade comprising a central member having transverse slots, side members having lugs arranged to slide in said slots and being provided with beads arranged to enter said grooves in the casing, and an integral handle member carried by said central member for moving the latter into and out of said casing.

7. A shoe horn, comprising a hollow handle having opposed arc-shaped walls, said walls being provided with oppositely eX- tending grooves, a blade portion movable into and out of said handle, said blade portion comprising a central strip bent'in arc shape and being provided with a pair of slots near one end thereof. are-shaped side members having lugs at the ends thereof arranged to enter certain of said slots in said central member, each of said side members having a head on its outer edge arranged to enter one of the grooves in said handle member, and an integral extension carried by said central member and ar" ranged to project exteriorly of said handle, whereby said central member may be moved 16 into and out of said handle together With said side members.

RUSSELL E. LUNDAY. 

